International junior tennis has come to Fredericton.
At the Abony Family Tennis Centre, participants are lacing up and getting their rackets ready to compete in the International Tennis Federation’s World Tennis Tour for juniors.
Players are from several different countries, among them Ukraine, the U.S., Kazakhstan, Australia and China.
The tour takes the players across the country.
Simran Makker, who is from New York, is on her last stop of the tour and said her biggest challenge is the anxiety before each match.
She said she loves the independence of tennis.
“I do love that it is an individual sport so that I can really celebrate my own success and then when I lose I know what I have to work on,” she said in an interview. “But I also love when you’re training with other people. You can uplift others while also improving yourself.”
Many of the players have big ambitions for the future.
Philippe-Elliott Spencer Bigonesse, from Quebec, is playing in the singles tournament.
“It’s kind of like my whole life,” he said. “I’d like to go to an American university and maybe one day go pro if I’m good enough.”
For Rufus Nel, the tournament’s director, this is only a part of increasing the presence of tennis in New Brunswick.
The Abony Family Tennis Centre is one of the few indoor tennis facilities that can also allow for professional and junior tournaments.
Nel said it is a matter of showcasing what the facility offers and when those events happen, engaging the public.
“It’s good for the growth of tennis,” Nel said.
“So, juniors get to hear about it, parents get to hear about it, kids in our program get to hear about it. … They come and watch and maybe they aspire to be as good as some of these juniors or maybe more people play tennis.”
He said Fredericton has become known as a place that has a well-run tournament. It recently held the W25, a women’s tennis tournament.
It had players from Germany, Japan, and the U.S., among others.
The tournament continues for the rest of the week, with the final planned for Friday.
In addition to the final matches on Friday, the Davis Cup will be on display for the public following Canada’s victory in the cup last year.